Police to fight polling station BULLIES after intimidation and fraud threat at elections

Police to fight polling station BULLIES after intimidation and fraud threat at elections

POLICE will be at more than 100 polling stations to combat voter intimidation and fraud in today’s local and European elections.

PUBLISHED: 00:00, Thu, May 22, 2014

Police will be manning more than 100 polling stations across the country[AP]

The Electoral Commission has identified 16 areas as “high risk” for vote-rigging and bullying, including Bradford, Peterborough, Birmingham and Coventry.

In Tower Hamlets, East London, officers will be stationed at every single polling station. Returning Officer John Williams said the council was responding to allegations of intimidation at previous elections.

Councils are also probing irregularities on nomination, voter registration and postal vote forms.

The high-risk areas are mostly Asian communities. Another is Pendle, Lancs, where Tory council candidate Abdullah Zaid claimed activists have previously coerced vulnerable voters to complete postal votes on the doorstep.